[quote=“Fenriswolfr, post:18, topic:774”]This sounds like strong-weak links, in that you want strong links, that you can easily break and reform with other people, and go about breaking and
reforming… I’ve done this all throughout school, though never a strong link, because you just… don’t break those easily…[/quote]
I’m not talking about breaking links, I’m talking about allowing people to find their place, even when their place isn’t necessarily the same as their parents place. I’m talking about allowing people who don’t fit in to find the strong links that work for them - there is a greater chance of this in the city simply becuase you have a greater diversity of people.
I completely disagree with that statement, from my own experience, I have numerous friends that have completely different opinions yet still I can rely on them and be supported by them, and have strong links with them. Maybe we’re talking about different types of diversity, and thinking about it, I am coming to realize that what I’m talking about doesn’t necessarily need a city. The kind of diversity I’m talking about is not superficial, it is deep, but it relies on a common interest - different opinions, but different opinions on the same things - a common frame of reference. Maybe you are right, maybe you do need this common frame of reference to have strong links, and maybe this can exist in the tribe. I think the kind of link I am referring to is different - it is weak, but it is consistent and ongoing and intimate - maybe this is an unhealthy form of link but I don’t think so. These kind of links allow us to expand ourselves and our view points on an ongoing basis. Thank you Jason for forcing me to really figure out what I am talking about.
I understand your situation fenris, I am in much the same situation now, struggling to find strong links, coming up with a few, that feel so good. School does that sometimes, it is annoying, breaking up classes and re-making them all the time. I guess one should be able to maintain relationships in the midst of that but I’m not so good at it.
I agree that conventional, standard living approaches to living in a city don’t work, but I think that I am talking about a really different kind of city. I mean, everyone would have to be involved food production to some degree, things wouldn’t be as tight as they are now. I’m not saying that people would have more strong links, just different types of strong links. Maybe they would have less - it isn’t a life for everybody, but I still think it is valuable.
I set my level that turns a city into a village at two thousand people, and I think that number could be sustained by permaculture - permaculture or forms of bio-intensive have the potential for much larger yields per area than conventional agriculture and if all the space in the city was fully maximized as well as growing things inside, and maybe a small ring of fields just beyond the city walls - but no more than one could walk. This size would also prohibit growth or taking over of tribal lands becuase of the very dynamics of permaculture that it is more labour intensive making it nearly impossible to have an army.